more hot summer gardening

this is an amaranthus that came up and took over the sidewalk, and I let it. also there is some blue and black salvia.

rose moss also growing great all summer, blue daze, and the peach salvia nice...

august garden..

the blue and black salvia was cut right off to the ground in July and now it's grown back strong with lots of blooms.

had rebloom on a daylily this morning and the Orange Peel Cestrum has remained in flower ALL SUMMER. hurrah!

from July...

by July all daylilies were done and then it got over 100 every day, but I still took a few pics of things before it got too hot and dry... above is a photo of a planter on the front porch with purple and white vinca, red splash leaf plant, and blue plumbago. great mix..2nd container shows a tropical plant with vivid seagreen flowers, white globe amaranth, purple pepper plant, and angelonia sedum

these two pics show perennial artichoke, and then some portulaca and blue daze...

late june weekend blooms

Is opposite of FFO maybe LFO? last full opening? these are the last buds to open on Siloam Elfin Jewel, which maybe I kind of like after all... ha. and the next one a seedling double with fun coral brightness. I look forward to see if its 2nd year has it growing back any fuller and healthier with more buds etc.. next summer.

above are some good blooms on Susan Weber and Midnight Sweet Loraine. S Weber is on its way to the fall daylily sale, I need the room! ha

few for Friday ----- :)

I was at the Topgun's nursery this morning and took a picture of this double daylily, probably a tetraploid, I really like the full peony type doubles. next is a picture I took of an Echinacea that I thought had a nice yellow. I came home with a few sedum, hydrangeas, and japanese painted fern. ha

I'm not sure if I posted these blooms yet. both were open today, the first is Siloam Ethel Smith and the last one is Siloam Elfin's Jewel. I don't really like S. Ethel Smith but because it's a siloam I have it. also I like it 'cause it blooms late and adds color to the garden when everything else has bloomed. : S. Elfin Jewel I have put on a few other patterned mini's and look forward to seeing what it might do...I"m not in love with this one's colors anyway, kind of a weird pair up and pale..but I think if you got some different colors or patterns in there could be really interesting. that reminds me I want the daylily Jason Salter, a big pale sort of eye but it's very catching.


and last just a few yard shots.. the north bed again - I took this pic because of the red coleus and the perilla together with some blooms in back. I have S. Queen Bee all over the garden just for a little punch of orange here and there... last pic show the Arkansas Amsonia in the front bed. really like the textures of this...

garden photos before Thursday showers....

if you'r e not growing some sort of balloon flower in your garden, go ahead! they're perennials and it will add some cooling blue to the garden. :) The second pic is today's bloom on Siloam Sambo, this one is very dark and very nice, although an older variety lacking in bud count etc, but I still love it for the name and for the hybridizer. the third pic above was a fun surprise this morning, I have a row of seedlings from doubles and only this one had a scape this year. Sometimes my "program" takes a third year to bloom not just 2, ha! What a great corally color with an apricot fade to the center. You may have noticed although I like the patterned eyes on some daylilies, I really like the solid bright colors that shout out to the street begging to be noticed (as they say in The Color Purple...).

here are some garden shots. Since my house is painted grey with navy shutters, I like a lot orange colored flowers for the contrast.... second pic above is a gift from Mrs. Henry from her toss out pile, I think I've posted before. I like the way the eye switches to a bit of white before changing to purple. last pic is echincea Hope and you may notice the hardy artichoke leaves behind, again I got this to accent the grey house. the bright green/yellow leave at the bottom left are coreopsis "thunder and lightning" which I'd planned to be this stunning tall bright plant in the middle of the bed, but I'm still waiting for it to "take off". We'll see....

wonderful Wednesday with more flowers..

click on any photo for a LARGER view...

Siloam Headlight was shining nicely this morning with a nice surround of buds, and then the lighting was pretty good to get some detail on this bloom of Midnight Smoke Rings

The first pic above is a seedling from a friend I've had for several years, nice firey double. Does anyone know of other diploids I should grow that have this blend of orange/red throughout the petals? really like the colors! and the next two pics are Siloam Dean's Double. I couldn't decide between the two pics which to post because I love the colors in both. One closer up really got the flowers into focus and the last one had the turquoise from the glass object..ha! This one staggers out its blooming and seems to last for a long time regardless of lacking branching/bud count. I put it on everything else double in my yard.

the pics above show a new rose bush that I couldnt' resist in some David Austen Rose ad I came across during last winter.. my dreams of the coming spring got the best of me and I ordered some. I'll be patient for this to be a nice big bush full of blooms someday. Next is Siloam Pink Platinum and the last pic is Siloam Holland's CHoice. which I really only like for its big size.. otherwise it's too pale and blah for me.. but I know others will say it's just right. ha

tuesday summertime flowers

Green Treat is still blooming and today had twins. I've been putting this pollen on various other minis in the garden, so looking forward to summer 2014! ha

first pic above is Siloam Pink Cloud; this one has buds buds buds, a pretty crinkly pink with ruffly wavy edges! It's been blooming for a while, I forget if I've posted before. Today was its last bloom and I'm glad it lasted until Siloam Headlight was blooming because today I was finally able to pollenate them together. It's just an experiment, the buds of SPC and the branching of SH might turn out something good or not. :)
second shows Siloam Sambo, and lastly Siloam Ralph Henry which I've put on a lot of other flowers too this summer...

more blooms today ...-------------------------------

the first pic is a little seedling I think I posted the same one last year, nothing new but pretty shades of light yellow and dark red if you like those combos (they're not my favorite, ha, but anyway). and the second one is a seedling that had some interesting colorations mixed around, but I'll have to wait to see if it stays consistently...

last bloom today on the green throat seedling, sepals aren't showing as much as the last time it bloomed. next one is Siloam Dean Reusser nice full flower with lots of blend of colors (of course I'm super biased to this one!), and the last one is Banana Cream Cupcake.. which has nice branching and budcount, yet I like a really fuller double with more 'fluff' in the middle. This one I have as part of the plants for members program for our club, so I'll be taking it back this fall for auction and MAYBE keep one fan. ha

Sunday summer garden.... this is the day the Lord has made, after all....-----------------

above is the same double baby I keep taking photographs of, I can't help it. I'm reposting because in this photo you see a side view. I love how globular it looks from about every angle - It's so big and funky on a too tall stem, but you can see what a show off it is from the garden view. I can't wait to get a clump of this monster. :)

FFO on Friends With Benefits, big bloom, pretty color, and not the usual full form I grow in my garden, but it was a gift from Paul Owens from another purchase. I can tell I'm going to really like this one once it gets a good clump going. Does anyone grow the next flower, Africa ? and then next is one of my garden favorites, big and showy light Tuscawilla Snowdrift. nice sized blooms! below shows the clump in the corner of my bed. the last pic is a box planter on the porch, I think I've posted before, but it's still growing nicely and looked extra splashy today with the orange hibiscus blooming next to it. :)